The
way we handle SPIRITUAL NEEDS.New Heart Community Church
Series: Doing Church God’s Way
I Timothy 5:1-16-Godliness in Action
Sunday, April 6, 2008
Quick Review
● Godliness doesn’t JUST HAPPEN.
● Godliness is the only thing THAT LASTS.
● Godliness will COST YOU SOMETHING.
● Godliness starts with a DAILY DECISION.
I Timothy 5:1-16(NIV)
1Do not rebuke an older man harshly, but exhort him as if he were your father. Treat younger men as brothers, 2older women as mothers, and younger women as sisters, with absolute purity.
3Give proper recognition to those widows who are really in need. 4But if a widow has children or grandchildren, these should learn first of all to put their religion into practice by caring for their own family and so repaying their parents and grandparents, for this is pleasing to God. 5The widow who is really in need and left all alone puts her hope in God and continues night and day to pray and to ask God for help. 6But the widow who lives for pleasure is dead even while she lives. 7Give the people these instructions, too, so that no one may be open to blame. 8If anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for his immediate family, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.
9No widow may be put on the list of widows unless she is over sixty, has been faithful to her husband, 10and is well known for her good deeds, such as bringing up children, showing hospitality, washing the feet of the saints, helping those in trouble and devoting herself to all kinds of good deeds.
11As for younger widows, do not put them on such a list. For when their sensual desires overcome their dedication to Christ, they want to marry. 12Thus they bring judgment on themselves, because they have broken their first pledge. 13Besides, they get into the habit of being idle and going about from house to house. And not only do they become idlers, but also gossips and busybodies, saying things they ought not to. 14So I counsel younger widows to marry, to have children, to manage their homes and to give the enemy no opportunity for slander. 15Some have in fact already turned away to follow Satan.
16If any woman who is a believer has widows in her family, she should help them and not let the church be burdened with them, so that the church can help those widows who are really in need.
Our godliness is evident in:
The
way we handle SPIRITUAL NEEDS.
1 Timothy 5:1, Ephesians 4:15, Matthew 18:15
James 5:19-20(NIV)
19My brothers, if one of you should wander from the truth and someone should bring him back, 20remember this: Whoever turns a sinner from the error of his way will save him from death and cover over a multitude of sins.
Galatians 6:1-2(NIV)
1Brothers, if someone is caught in a sin, you who are spiritual should restore him gently. But watch yourself, or you also may be tempted. 2 Carry each other's burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.
Matthew 7:1-5(NIV)
1"Do not judge, or you too will be judged. 2For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.
3"Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? 4How can you say to your brother, 'Let me take the speck out of your eye,' when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? 5You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye.
Ephesians 4:15(NIV)
15Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into him who is the Head, that is, Christ.
The
way we see and treat each other AS FAMILY.
1 Timothy 5:1-2, 2 Corinthians 6:18, Matthew 12:50, Ephesians 2:19
Matthew 5:27-29(NIV)
27"You have heard that it was said, 'Do not commit adultery.' 28But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart. 29If your right eye causes you to sin, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. 30And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to go into hell.
Luke 17:1-3a(NIV)
1Jesus said to his disciples: "Things that cause people to sin are bound to come, but woe to that person through whom they come. 2It would be better for him to be thrown into the sea with a millstone tied around his neck than for him to cause one of these little ones to sin. 3So watch yourselves.
The
way we meet PHYSICAL NEEDS.
1 Timothy 5:3-16, Proverbs 29:7, James 1:27
Proverbs 29:7(NIV)
The righteous care about justice for the poor, but the wicked have no such concern.
James 1:27(NIV)
27Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.
The
priority we give our OWN FAMILIES.
Matthew 15:3-6, Proverbs 27:23-27, Proverbs 23:22
I Timothy 5:4,7, 16(NIV)
4But if a widow has children or grandchildren, these should learn first of all to put their religion into practice by caring for their own family and so repaying their parents and grandparents, for this is pleasing to God. 7Give the people these instructions, too, so that no one may be open to blame. 8If anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for his immediate family, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever. 16If any woman who is a believer has widows in her family, she should help them and not let the church be burdened with them, so that the church can help those widows who are really in need.
Guidelines for godliness:
Faithful to your spouse
Known for good deeds
Bringing up children
Showing hospitality
Washing the feet of the saints
Helping those in trouble
Devotion to good deeds